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Review: Melody's Key by Dallas Coryell

(I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.)

Tegan Lockwood’s dreams were dead, sacrificed on the noble altar of duty before they ever had a chance to live. Her entire existence was disappearing into the abyss of apathy as she labored her days away keeping her family’s struggling business alive. There would be no emotion, no color, no beauty in her life. That is, until a mysterious visitor begins to draw her out of the darkness of her past towards something that will challenge the boundaries of her world, and unlock the most deeply held secrets of her heart.

Tegan Lockwood is one of the most realistic and relatable characters I've read about in a while. She is scared, haunted by the past, and makes stupid decisions with the best intentions. She's doubtful and suspicious most of the time but once she gets past it, she trusts people with everything she's got. I enjoyed watching the story unfold from her point of view. Also she has the most wonderful family ever! I always love to see family be a part of YA books! Her parents are amazing and I absolutely enjoyed her banter with her sister and brothers.

Mason I felt at the beginning was something of a cliched character. The boy who is not what he seems; the boys with the secrets. But I can't deny I liked him. I thoroughly enjoyed the person he was, his way of talking (how it sounded in my head) and the silly but cute things he did. He was quite the interesting love interest who captivated me just like the songs in the book (more on that later)

I also really liked Simon! I wish we could have seen more of him. He's Tegan's gay best friend who is epicly sweet and had captured my heart within five pages of his introduction. He's sweet and kind of shy. I'd love to read a story of his own sometime!

It's a love story with oodles of romance. To tell you the truth, I've probably read only 4 or 5 contemporary novels in my life. Any literary romance I've seen was forged while fighting vampires, battling dark wizards and other such fantastical settings. Melody's Key is THE first contemporary YA romance I've read and guess what? I really enjoyed it. Even though the romance was at times a little too sweet for me, I overall found the book to be interesting and entertaining. The story has twists everywhere and the best part of it is, I found myself laughing and crying with the characters.

I loved the love letters that Tegan discovers in the attics and what they mean to her. I love the cute little name the main characters make up for each other. I loved how awesome Ry (Tegan's sister) was and the wonderful bickerings she had going on with her sister.

The one thing I loved more than anything else in the book was the writing. It was so expressive and beautiful that I was pulled in at page one. The first scene is of Tegan waking up to a prank by her sister; such a simple scene but the writing makes it oh so magical.

Also there are a couple of amazing songs scattered throughout the story that are lovely! And guys do yourself a favor and please listen to the songs while you read them! Yes, the author has sung them all and you can find them on his YouTube channel. He sings the songs with so much feeling and the experience is plain wonderful!

- The Characters

- Most of the plot

- The writing

- The songs!

- Certain plot points that were predictable

If you love romance and music, this book is definitely for you! It makes you laugh, smile and cry and I for one am looking forward to more books from the author.